Camera

ABSTRACT

A cartridge holder being movable between a cartridge accommcodating position where it is concealed within a camera body and a projecting position where it is exposed outside the camera body has a lower supporting member at its bottom for driving a film spool in a film cartridge inserted through an opening into the cartridge holder by engaging a lower end of the film spool, and an upper supporting member for engaging an upper end of the film spool. The upper supporting member is moved between its retracted position where it is retracted from the opening of the cartridge holder and its engaged position where it engages the film spool, its movement interconnecting with the movement of the cartridge holder between its cartridge accommodating and projecting positions.

This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 08/790,618, filed Jan.29, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,890.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a camera which uses a film cartridgeencasing a roll of filmstrip, and particularly to a camera having acartridge holder for accommodating the film cartridge, which is movablebetween a first position projecting from the camera body for receivingthe film cartridge and a second position in which the received filmcartridge is accommodated in a predetermined position within the camerabody.

2. Description of Related Art

Such cameras are suitable for a film cartridge used new typephotographing system having a film ingress/egress slit for feeding outan encased filmstrip and a light-shielding door for opening and closingthe slit. While the operation of loading the film cartridge is desiredto be easy and quick, it is also desirable that the film cartridge isstably retained in an appropriate position so that the drive isassuringly transmitted to a film spool, but without inhibiting thesmooth movement of the cartridge holder between its cartridgeaccommodating position and projecting position. It is also desired tokeep the construction of the camera simple and compact, although themechanisms for opening/closing the light-shielding door and forwinding/rewinding the film generally require a large, complicatedstructure.

Japanese published unexamined patent application 4-80734 discloses acamera with a cartridge holder having an opening in the upper part forreceiving a film cartridge inserted endwise along a shaft of a filmroll. The cartridge holder has a fork at its bottom for engaging anddriving the shaft of the film roll encased in the film cartridge. Thestandardized length of the engagement between the fork and the shaft isrelatively long, but this does not obstruct the film cartridge loadingoperation, as the film cartridge is inserted into and removed from thecartridge holder through the opening in the same direction as that ofsaid engagement. However, in order to facilitate the movement of thecartridge holder between its accommodating and projecting positions, thefilm cartridge is retained in the accommodated position by merely aspring pushing the film cartridge downward within the camera body. Sincethe shaft of the film roll is not fully supported, stable operation ofthe film cartridge cannot be ensured. Also, on the one hand theconnection and disconnection between the fork member and a fork drivingmember can be easily accomplished concurrently with the linear movementof the cartridge holder, but on the other hand the cartridge holderneeds a relatively large stroke because of its linear movement, causinga troublesome operation.

Japanese published unexamined patent application 4-80735 discloses acamera having a fork disposed within a camera body to reduce the movingvolume of a cartridge holder. The fork is retracted from a positionwhere it engages a film spool prior to movement of the cartridge holderbetween its accommodating and projecting positions, thereby enablingsaid movement of the cartridge holder. However, the space for retractingthe fork needs to have the length more than the aforementioned standardengaging length, causing increase in the size of the camera and thecomplexity of the structure

Japanese published unexamined patent application 2-114248 discloses aschematic driving system for driving several operations by a singlemotor. This configuration allows for a simple structure, since severalsequential operations of driven members are all driven by the singlemotor alone. However, the photographing operations described in theabove mentioned patent application include only feeding out a filmstripto a winding spool and taking up the filmstrip by the winding spool, andmany other necessary operations such as shutter release andopening/closing of the light-shielding door are not mentioned. Also, thedriving force from the motor to each driven member is not individuallytransmitted. Various photographing operations are related to each otherand driven at different speeds, and no mechanism has yet been proposedfor satisfactory controlling all these operations by a single motor.

The driving system disclosed in the 2-114248 patent application employsa planetary mechanism. FIG. 31 shows a simplest configuration of suchplanetary mechanisms. A sun gear S has a coaxial planet carrier C, and aplanet gear supported by the planet carrier C is meshed with the sungear S. When the sun gear S is driven, a friction member provided eitherbetween the sun gear S and the planet carrier C or between the planetcarrier C and the planet gear P acts on the planet carrier C to pivotwith the rotation of the sun gear S, and the planet gear P supported bythe planet carrier C revolves around the sun gear S. When the planetgear P comes to contact with any of driven gears D, D provided along theorbit of the planet gear P, the planet gear P engages the driven gear Dat a predetermined position and disengages the same by moving away fromthe predetermined position. By stopping the planet carrier C by astopper (not shown) when the planet gear P comes to engagement with thedriven gear D, the rotation of the sun gear S is transmitted to theplanet gear P which drives the driven gear D engaging with the planetgear P. Japanese published unexamined patent application 1-287648discloses such a planetary mechanism.

However, the mechanism sometimes malfunctions in the followingsituation. When there are more than three driven gears D, D, one of thedriven gears D, D must be placed in line with the sun gear S and theplanet gear P as shown in FIG. 31A, in order that the planet gear P canoptionally mesh with any of the driven gears D, D along its revolution.When the planet gear P and the driven gear D are coming into contactwith each other as shown in FIG. 31B and 31C before they fall into line,one or two addenda of each wheel tend to easily catch each other, cominginto a halt. Once the both gears become stationary, they are not able tofurther rotate in either direction, the addenda blocking each other,unless the sun gear S is rotated in the reverse direction. If thedriving force is so strong that the gears S and D are not stopped bytheir addenda, supporting shafts or teeth of the gears might be damaged.Even when there are only two or fewer gears and no driven gears areplaced in line with the gears and S P, as shown in FIG. 31A, the abovedescribed blocked condition cannot be fully prevented. Letter A depictsa line between the centers of the sun gear S and the planet gear P, andletter B depicts a line between the centers of the planet gear P and thedriven gear D. The nearer the angle made by the lines A, B comes to 180degree, the more easily the addenda of the gears catch each other.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the presentinvention to provide a compact camera with a simple structure in which acartridge holder can move between its accommodating and projectingpositions, and a film cartridge can be readily inserted into or removedfrom the cartridge holder in its projecting position, while assuringaccurate positioning of the film cartridge at the accommodated positionand maintaining the stability in driving a film spool.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of a camera and a cartridge holderin a cartridge accommodating position where it is concealed within thecamera body and in a cartridge receiving position where it is projectingfrom the camera body according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views of a cartridge holder of thecamera shown in FIG. 1 in its cartridge accommodating position andprojecting position;

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C are perspective, sectional, and bottom plan viewsshowing a film cartridge used in the camera of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are sectional views showing an accommodated status ofthe cartridge holder of the camera shown in FIG. 1, and a driving forcetransmitting mechanism between a fork gear and a film spool;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic perspective views of a cartridge holder inits accommodating and projecting position showing a status wherein adriving force is transmitted to open and close a light-shielding door ofthe film cartridge and a status in which the transmission isdisconnected;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E are top plan views of a door driving gear and adriven gear showing each status in driving operations of opening andclosing a light-shielding door of a film cartridge;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are side and front views of a cartridge holder showing astatus in which the cartridge holder is unlocked and a status in which afork gear is retracted;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are side and front views of a cartridge holder showing astatus in which the cartridge holder is locked and a status in which afork gear is engaged;

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C are sectional views showing each position of a forkgear and a status wherein the cartridge holder is moved;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a cartridge holder in its projectingposition showing how the cartridge holder and a lock member are related;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view depicted with the cartridge holder of FIG.10 cut away and seen from a different angle;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a driving system in a camera according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a front view of the driving system of FIG. 12;

FIGS. 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E are plan views of a selecting mechanism ata film rewind side in a driving system showing each operating status;

FIG. 15 is a graph showing changes in radius of a planet control cam ina driving system, and each operating status of a camera corresponding toeach rotational position of the cam according to the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a typical input-output relation in amicrocomputer for controlling operations of a camera according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of a first embodiment of a planetary mechanismaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a sequential operating mechanism in a camerato which a second embodiment of a planetary mechanism of the presentinvention is applied;

FIG. 19 is a theoretical diagram explaining a function of a secondembodiment of a planetary mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a sun gear and a planet gearof FIG. 19 meshing with each other;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a planet gear and a drivengear of FIG. 19 meshing with each other;

FIGS. 22A and 22B are sectional views showing a concrete example of asecond embodiment of a planetary mechanism according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 23 is a theoretical diagram of a third embodiment of a planetarymechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a plan view showing a concrete example of a third embodimentof a planetary mechanism according to the present invention;

FIGS. 25A and 25B are detailed sectional views showing a thirdembodiment of a planetary mechanism of FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a sectional view of a fourth embodiment of a planetarymechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a plan view of a fifth embodiment of a planetary mechanismaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a plan view of a sixth embodiment of a planetary mechanismaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a plan view of a seventh embodiment of a planetary mechanismaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a plan view of a eighth embodiment of a planetary mechanismaccording to the present invention; and

FIGS. 31A, 31B, 31C are theoretical diagrams of a conventional planetarymechanism in its operating condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafterdescribed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Referring toFIGS. 1A and 1B, the camera described in this embodiment is asingle-lens reflex camera and has a lens 2 and a retractablestroboscopic flash head 4 on the front face of the camera body 1. In themiddle on the top surface is a view finder 3 using pentaprism, and tothe right of it when seen from behind is a shutter release button 10. Acartridge chamber 6 for loading a film cartridge 5 is disposed at theopposite side of the camera body 1 with respect to shutter releasebutton 10.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the film cartridge 5 comprises a cartridgecase 7 made of resin material and a film spool 8 generally passingthrough the center thereof and rotatably supported inside the cartridgecase 7. An inner end of a film 9 is attached to the film spool 8, andthe film 9 is wound into the cartridge case 7 through a filmingress/egress slit 7a by rotation of the film spool 8 in the filmwinding direction, or fed out from the slit 7a by reverse rotation thefilm spool 8 in the film unwinding direction. A light-shielding door 11is provided along the film slit 7a, and pivotally supported by its shaft11a for opening and closing the slit 7a. Open and closed status of thelight-shielding door 11 is shown by a phantom line and a broken line,respectively, in FIG. 3C. The cartridge case 7 is of an irregular shapein its cross section with the film slit 7a projecting from the peripheryof the cartridge case 7 in the tangential direction. The film spool 8has an information disk 13 circumferentially provided with bar codes 12or the like as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3C. The radial bar codes 12 providedata concerning film type, condition, and remainder. Read-out windows7b, 7c are provided on the end surface of the cartridge case 7, disposedto face photo sensors 14a, 14b or the like provided in a cartridgeholder 21 for reading out the data as shown in FIGS. 3B, 3C, and FIG. 4AFilm exposure-status of the film 9 may be also indicated through anindicating portion on the other end face (not shown) of the cartridgecase 7 showing whether the film 9 is unexposed, partly exposed, fullyexposed, or processed, by stopping the film spool 8 at a predeterminedposition and utilizing the information disk 13. The photo sensors 14a,14b in the cartridge holder 21 are connected to a control circuit (notshown) in the camera body 1 by a harness 34 disposed at the bottom partof the camera body 1 as shown in FIG. 4A via a pair of pins 22, 22pivotally supporting the cartridge holder 21. Such a simple wirestructure allows signals to be transmitted and received without beinginfluenced by transverse movement of the cartridge holder 21 between theopen and closed positions.

FIGS. 2A and 4A show the cartridge holder 21 housed in the cartridgechamber 6. The cartridge holder 21 comprises a concave having a crosssection commensurate in shape with the cartridge case 7. The filmcartridge 5 is inserted through an opening 21a which opens upward alongthe direction of axis of the film spool 8, and is always received in acertain direction. The cartridge holder 21 has a cover 21b hinged by thepair of pins 22, 22 provided at both sides in the bottom edge of thecartridge chamber 6 for opening and closing the cartridge chamber 6.Cutouts 21c are formed at upper end of both side walls of the cartridgeholder 21 for conveniently grabbing the film cartridge 5 by fingers. Atthe bottom of the cartridge holder 21, a fork 23 and a door drivingmember 24 are provided as intermediate drive transmission members fordriving the film spool 8 and the light-shielding door 11, respectively,the fork 23 coupling with a lower end of the film spool 8 and the doordriving member 24 coupling with a lower end of the shaft 11a of thelight-shielding door 11 as shown in FIG. 4A. The fork 23 and the doordriving member 24 may be omitted, in which case the film spool 8 and theshaft 11a of the light-shielding door 11 are directly coupled to drivingmembers in the camera body 1 and driven thereby.

As shown in FIG. 1A, when the cartridge chamber 6 is closed, the cover21b serving as a surface portion of the camera body 1 conceals thecartridge holder 21 in a cartridge accommodating position within thecamera body 1. When the cartridge chamber 6 is opened as shown in FIGS.1B and 2B, the cartridge holder 21 locates at a projecting positionoutside the camera body 1, exposing the opening 21a. The film cartridge5 is inserted to or removed from the cartridge holder 21 at thisprojecting position. A stopper 21z integrally formed on the cartridgeholder 21 and a latch member (not shown) provided in the camera body 1restrict the maximum projecting amount of the cartridge holder 21,thereby preventing possible damages to the harness 34 or other memberscaused by the cartridge holder 21 rotating too much around the pins 22,22. The cartridge holder 21, after receiving the film cartridge 5 in apredetermined direction at the projecting position shown in FIGS. 1B and2B and being moved to the cartridge accommodating position shown inFIGS. 1A and 2A accommodates and postures the film cartridge 5 at apredetermined loading position in the camera body 1.

Referring to FIG. 4A, a fork gear 25 and a door driving gear 26 asdriving members are provided within the camera body at a positioncorresponding to the loading position of the film cartridge 5, the forkgear 25 coupling with the fork 23 for driving the film spool 8 and thedoor driving gear 26 coupling with the door driving member 24 foropening and closing the light-shielding door 11 when the cartridgeholder 21 is in the accommodating position. As mentioned above, variousother structures can be employed instead of providing the abovedescribed intermediate drive transmission members and driving members,depending on types of drive transmission for the film spool 8 and thedoor shaft 11a or for a driving system 27 provided in the camera body 1as shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13.

In this embodiment, the fork 23 and the door driving member 24 arerotatably supported by a bottom wall of the cartridge holder 21, andfitted therein in such a way that they extend from outside the bottomwall to the interior of the cartridge holder 21. The fork 23 has adriving shaft 23a which extends upward into the cartridge holder 21 forcoupling with the lower end of the film spool 8 in the axial direction.A key 23b is provided for fastening the driving shaft 23a the film spool8 for transmitting rotation by fitting into a key aperture 8a at thelower end of the film spool 8. The key 23b can advance and retreat inthe axial direction with respect to the driving shaft 23a, and isretained in a coupled position fitting in the key aperture 8a by theforce of a spring 28. The key 23b may be constructed to advance andretreat in the radial direction with respect to the fork 23. When thekey 23b is not fitting in the key aperture 8a as film cartridge 5 isinserted into the cartridge holder 21, the fork 23 is driven to rotateuntil the key 23b matches the key aperture 8a while the key 23b isretreated against the force of the spring 28. Accordingly, the key 23band the key aperture 8a do not interfere with each other when they arenot coupled. When the key 23b comes to face the key aperture 8a, the key23b urged by the spring 28 advances to fit in the key aperture 8a,whereby transmitting the rotation of the fork 23 to the film spool 8. Abifurcating forked portion 23c is provided to the fork 23 beneath theouter bottom wall of the cartridge holder 21 for coupling with a matingforked portion 25a provided to the upper surface of the fork gear 25 inthe axial direction to transmit the rotation of the fork gear 25 to thefilm spool 8 through the fork 23.

The door driving member 24 has a key 24a within the cartridge holder 21for fitting into a key hole 11b provided at the lower end of the shaft11a of the light-shielding door 11. Beneath the outer bottom wall of thecartridge holder 21 is a driven gear 24b for mating with the doordriving gear 26. The film cartridge 5 is inserted into the cartridgeholder 21 always in a certain direction and the light-shielding door 11is closed whenever the film cartridge 5 is received by the cartridgeholder 21, whereby the position and the rotational direction of thelight-shielding door shaft 11a is determined. A spring 29 is appliedbetween the door driving member 24 and the cartridge holder 21 as shownin FIGS. 6, 7A, and 8A to urge the door driving member 24 to be alwayskept at an initial rotational position shown in FIGS. 6A, 6E, and 7A sothat the key 24a always waits facing to a certain direction where itdirectly fits in the key hole 11b of the shaft 11a in the axialdirection when the film cartridge 5 is inserted into the cartridgeholder 21. This enables the shaft 11a and the key 24a to always couplewith each other in the axial direction when the film cartridge 5 isinserted into the cartridge holder 21. Moreover, the key 24a and thedriven gear 24b are provided as separate members divided into upper andlower parts, transmitting the rotation of the drive gear 24b to the key24a with a spring or the like applied therebetween (not shown) in orderto prevent any damages when overburdened.

The cartridge holder 21 is moved between open and close positions by asimple single-axis rotation around the pair of pins 22, 22 in thedirection crossing an axis of the film spool 8 of the film cartridge 5received by the cartridge holder 21. If the cartridge holder 21 is movedbetween the two positions with the forked portions 23c, 25a coupled witheach other, they might be damaged by interfering with each other, as thefork 23 at the cartridge holder 21 side and the fork gear 25 at thecamera body 1 side are interlocked with each other in the axialdirection. To prevent such interference, the fork gear 25 is constructedto be retractable downward from the coupled position shown in FIG. 4.The fork gear 25 is supported by a shaft 31 fixed in the bottom wall ofthe camera body 1 in such a way that the fork gear 25 can rotate andmove vertically. The fork gear 25 is retained in the position where itcouples with the film spool 8 by the force of a spring 32 appliedbetween the fork gear and the bottom wall of the camera body 1, and isretracted downward when the cartridge holder 21 is moved. Theabove-mentioned configuration may be employed in any structure in whichthe film cartridge 5 is moved in the direction crossing its axis. Forexample, the pins 22, 22 pivotally supporting the cartridge holder 21may be vertically provided.

The driven gear 24b of the door driving member 24 is also moved in thedirection crossing the axis of the film cartridge 5, accompanying thehorizontal movement of the cartridge holder 21. The driven gear 24b andthe door driving gear 26 in the camera body 1 are located to havedifferent distances from the pins 22, 22. Also, the driven gear 24b andthe door driving gear 26 mesh with each other at different hights withrespect to the pins 22, 22. By utilizing at least one of thesedifferences in distance and height between the gears 24b and 26, the twogears can smoothly engage and disengage each other, the driven gear 24bbeing released from the door driving gear 26 by a radial movement asshown in FIG. 5. As can be seen in FIGS. 5-8, both the driven gear 24band the door driving gear 26 are intermittent gears. The driven gear 24band the door driving gear 26 are controlled to face each other at theirgaps where there are no teeth as shown in FIG. 6E when the cartridgeholder 21 is moved, so that the gears 24b and 26 do not interfere witheach other.

When the cartridge holder 21 is detected to be in the accommodatingposition by a sensor such as a microswitch (not shown) provided in thecamera body 1, the driving system 27 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 operatesthe door driving gear 26 to rotate from the position shown in FIG. 6A tothe position shown in FIG. 6C. The door driving gear 26 may be stoppedat any positions shown in from FIGS. 6C to 6D. By this rotation thelight-shielding door 11 is opened, and kept in the opened status by acam 26a of the door driving gear 26 being caught at the boundary 24cbetween the teeth and the gap of the driven gear 24. The film spool 8 isthen driven to rotate, feeding out the film 9 from the film cartridge 5to a take-up spool 35 as shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. After that, thefilm 9 is wound by the driven take-up spool 35 each time the shutter isreleased by operation of the release button 10, whereby pictures aretaken consecutively. When the film cartridge 5 is desired to be takenout by completion of exposing all the film 9 or stoppage ofphotographing, the film 9 is rewound under the state shown in FIG. 6Cand then the door driving gear 26 is further rotated to release theengagement with the driven gear 24, so that the driven gear 24 isreturned to its initial rotational position shown in FIG. 6E by theforce of the spring 29, whereby shutting the light-shielding door 11.

The cartridge holder 21 has a lid plate 33 covering the upward concaveof the cartridge holder 21 from above. The lid plate 33 is pivotallysupported by a pair of pins 38, 38 substantially parallel to the pins22, 22 and provided at the upper edge of the inner wall 21d of thecartridge holder 21 opposite to the cover 21b. The lid plate 33 is urgedby a spring 36 in a direction toward the open status and is interlockedwith parts of the camera body 1. More particularly, the lid plate 33 isopened interconnecting with the movement of the cartridge holder 21 fromthe accommodating position to the projecting position, and is closedinterconnecting with the movement of the cartridge holder 21 from theprojecting position to the accommodating position. On the upper innerwall of the camera body 1 is a spring 37 made of a plate spring or thelike as shown in FIGS. 1B and 4A pushing the lid plate 33 downward. Thespring 37 exerts stronger force than the spring 36, and thus thecomposition of both forces acts downward, supporting the cartridgeholder 21 with the spring 32 therebetween when the cartridge holder 21is in the projecting position. During the movement of the cartridgeholder 21 toward the projecting position, the spring 37 keeps pushingthe lid plate 33 downward, preventing the lid plate 33 from stickingagainst the upper inner wall of the camera body 1. When the cartridgeholder 21 is completely opened, the lid plate 33 is freed from thespring 37 and retracts upward by the force of the spring 36. The lidplate 33 has a supporting shaft 42 for coupling with the upper end ofthe film spool 8 in the film cartridge 5 received in the cartridgeholder 21. The supporting shaft 42, together with the fork 23 and thedoor driving member 24, retains the film cartridge 5 assuringly at oneposition in the cartridge holder 21, supporting the film cartridge 5both from upper and lower ends in order to ensure the driven rotation bythe fork gear 25. The supporting shaft 42 is constructed relativelyshort so that it can smoothly engage and disengage the upper end of thefilm spool 8 with the movement of the lid plate 33 pivoting around thepins 38, 38. On the contrary, the driving shaft 23a and the key 24a havelarger coupling lengths with the film spool 8 and the key hole 11b so asto ensure accurate and stable positioning of the film cartridge 5. Thefork 23 and the door driving member 24 are thus deeply interlocked withtheir mating members without obstructing any movement of the cartridgeholder 21, since the coupling direction is the same as that ofinsertion/removal of the film cartridge 5.

A lock member 43 is provided inside the camera body 1 as shown in FIGS.7, 8, 10, and 11, to secure the cartridge holder 21 brought to theaccommodating position. The lock member 43 is supported by a guide 44which allows for vertical movement of the lock member 43 and has a hookportion 43a with an angled edge. The lock member 43 is retained at itslocked position being pulled by a spring 45 downward. When the cartridgeholder 21 is moved to the accommodating position, the hook portion 43ais temporarily pushed up against the force of the spring 45 by beingpressed against a catch 21e integrally formed on the cartridge holder21. Then, the hook portion 43a returns to its locked position by theforce of the spring 45 when the cartridge holder 21 completes itsmovement to the accommodating position, the hook portion 43a received bythe catch 21e, thereby locking the cartridge holder 21 at itsaccommodating position and preventing the cartridge holder 21 from beingaccidentally opened.

If the cartridge holder 21 can be unlocked and opened anytime, therestill remains the possibility that the cartridge holder 21 isundesirably opened while the light-shielding door 11 of the filmcartridge 5 is opened, letting ambient light enter into the filmcartridge 5. To prevent such accidental opening of the cartridge holder21, a linking mechanism 51 is provided in the driving system 27 in thecamera body 1 which makes the lock member 43 move interconnected withthe movement of the fork gear 25. The lock member 43 is thus moved toits unlocked position only after the fork gear 25 for driving the filmspool 8 moves to its retracted position, and the fork gear 25 interlockswith the film spool 8 only after the cartridge holder 21 is locked bythe lock member 43.

Descriptions of the linking mechanism 51 will be made referring to FIGS.7, 8, 10, and 11. The linking mechanism 51 comprises a linking drivelever 53 which connects rotation of the door driving gear 26 to verticalmovements of the lock member 43, and a linking lever 91 which connectsvertical movements of the lock member 43 to those of the fork gear 25.Referring to FIG. 11, the linking drive lever 53 is pivotal supported atits center by a rod 52, and one end 53a of the linking drive lever 53 isnipped between a pair of pins 43b provided on the lock member 43 torotate in accordance with vertical movements of the lock member 43. Theother end 53b of the linking drive lever 53 is opposing to a cam 55provided to the door driving gear 26 to rotate therewith, and the end53b is driven by rotation of the door driving gear 26 opening andclosing the light-shielding door 11 through the cam 55. The linkinglever 91 is pivotally supported at its center by a rod 92. One end 91aof the linking lever 91 sits on a right angled catch 43c at the lowerend of the lock member 43, and the other end 91b of the linking lever 91rests on the upper surface of the fork gear 25. By the linking mechanism51 as described above and operation control by the driving system 27,the movement of the lock member 43 is connected to that of the fork gear25 through the door driving gear 26, the cam 55, and the linking drivelever 53. Upward movement of the cartridge holder 21 against the spring45 is controlled to link with open/close operations of thelight-shielding door 11 of the film cartridge 5.

Accordingly, the cartridge holder 21 is unlocked only when thelight-shielding door 11 is closed as shown in FIG. 7, preventing anundesirable opening of the cartridge holder 21 which causes the film 9to be exposed by ambient light. When the cartridge holder 21 is closed,the driving system 27 shuts the light-shielding door 11 and the lockmember 43 locks the cartridge holder 21, interconnecting with theclosing operation of the light-shielding door 11 by means of the doordriving gear 26, the cam 55, and the linking drive lever 53 as shown inFIG. 8. The linking lever 91 being interlocked with lock member 43 letsthe fork gear 25 rise by the force of the spring 32 to engage the fork23 as shown in FIG. 8 and 9A, after the light-shielding door 11 isclosed and the cartridge holder 21 is locked by the lock member 43. Whenthe film 9 is desired to be taken out after finishing photographing, thecartridge holder 21 is unlocked by control of the driving system 27 asshown in FIGS. 7 and 9B. The linking lever 91 being interlocked with thelock member 43 pushes down the fork gear 25 against the spring 32 to theretracted position, thereby releasing engagement with the fork 23 beforethe cartridge holder 21 is unlocked. Accordingly, the cartridge holder21 after being unlocked can freely move around the pins 22, 22 as shownby an arrow in FIG. 9C, as the engagement between the fork 23 and thefork gear 25 is timely released.

As described above, the linking mechanism 51 comprising the door drivinggear 26, the cam 55, the linking drive lever 53, and the linking lever91 connects the movements between the lock member 43 and the fork gear25 which drives the film spool 8 of the film cartridge 5 in thecartridge holder 21. The lock member 43 moves to its released positiononly after the fork gear 25 retracts, and the fork gear 25 interlockswith the fork 23 only after the completion of locking the cartridgeholder 21. The fork gear 25 is moved between its retracted position andinterlocked position at a right timing in connection with locking andunlocking operations of the cartridge holder 21 by such a simplemechanism using a single driving mechanism. Concrete configuration ofthe linking mechanism 51 which comprises the door driving gear 26, thecam 55, the linking drive lever 53, and the linking lever 91 is notlimited to the one described in this embodiment, and may be variouslyconstructed, as long as it accomplishes the safety interlock function toprevent the cartridge holder 21 from being accidentally opened.

In this embodiment, all operations are driven by one motor 61 shown inFIGS. 12 and 13. The motor 61 is disposed coaxially within the take-upspool 35, situating at the opposite side of the camera with respect tothe side where the film cartridge 5 is loaded, a mechanism for exposingthe film such as a mirror box 63 locating therebetween. As the motor 61is coaxially housed in the take-up spool 35, it requires no extra space.Rotation of the motor 61 is transmitted to a sun gear 65 in a selectingmechanism 64 at the film take-up side with respect to the mirror box 63through a reduction system 62a, as well as to an idler gear 68 in aselecting mechanism 67 at the film cartridge loading side through thereduction systems 62a and 62b. As described above, the motor 61 and thecartridge holder 21 are located at opposite sides with the mirror box 63therebetween, and the selecting mechanism 67 is disposed at thecartridge holder side for switching driving force transmissioncorresponding to the needs such as for winding the film 9, rewinding thefilm 9, or opening/closing the light-shielding door 11. Since theselecting mechanism 67 is located at the cartridge holder side, it isunnecessary to provide several driving force transmitting pathstraversing the mirror box 63 from the motor 61. The drive force outputsfrom the motor 61 are transmitted to the cartridge holder side via thetwo reduction systems 62a and 62b. The operation speed would thus bereduced if the selecting operation of the selecting mechanism 67 wascarried out via said both reduction systems. To speed up the selectingoperation at the cartridge holder side, the selecting mechanism 67 iscontrolled by a rewind control lever 82, which is operated by theselecting mechanism 64 at the film take-up side. Since the selectingmechanism 64 is disposed in the vicinity of the motor 61 and driven viaonly one reduction system 62a, the selecting operation of the selectingmechanism 67 is performed at a higher speed by way of the rewind controllever 82. The selecting mechanism 64 operates according to needs byrotation of the motor 61 in the normal direction and thereby selects adriven system to which the driving force of the motor 61 is transmitted.The motor 61 is switched in a way described later to rotate in thereverse direction in order to transmit the driving force of the motor 61to the selected driven system. When the motor 61 rotates in the normaldirection, the take-up sun gear 65 rotates counterclockwise, and whenthe motor 61 rotates reversely, the take-up sun gear 65 rotatesclockwise and a rewind sun gear 84 is rotated counterclockwise.

The selecting mechanism 64 at the film take-up side comprises the sungear 65, a take-up planet carrier 72, and a release charge planetcarrier 73, and the both carriers 72, 73 are supported by the sun gear65 and rotated therewith. A take-up control lever 71 selectably stopsthe rotation of the carriers 72, 73 by changing its position. Thetake-up planet carrier 72 brings a take-up planet gear 74 to engage ordisengage the take-up spool 35 by rotating clockwise with the take-upsun gear 65, whereby switching from a status wherein the rotation of themotor 61 is transmitted to the take-up spool 35 to another statuswherein the motor 61 and the take-up spool 35 are disconnected. Therelease charge planet carrier 73 brings a release charge planet gear 75to engage and disengage an idler gear 76 which transmits the drivingforce of the motor 61 to a planet control cam 77. The plane control cam77 changes the positions of the take-up control lever 71 and the rewindcontrol lever 82. The planet control cam 77 thus functions to select adriven system in both selecting mechanisms 64, 67 and to keep theselected condition. Each control lever 71 and 82 is provided withsprings 81a, 81b to be driven by an upper cam 77a and a lower cam 77b ofthe planet control cam 77. The release charge planet carrier 73 alsobrings the release charge planet gear 75 to engage and disengage arelease charge cam 78 to transmit the driving force of the motor 61,enabling and disabling shutter release, shutter charge, or verticalmovements of the mirror box 65.

In the selecting mechanism 67 at the film rewind side, i.e., thecartridge holder side, a rewind planet carrier 83 is rotated with thesun gear 84 engaged with the idler gear 68, when the rotation of themotor 61 is transmitted to the idler gear 68. The rotational amount ofthe rewind planet carrier 83 is controlled by adjusting the position ofthe rewind control lever 82 as shown in FIG. 14. The rewind planetcarrier 83 thereby brings a rewind planet gear 85 to engage anddisengage a cartridge-related driving cam 86, the fork gear 25, or afilm feed-out gear 87, thereby connecting and disconnecting the drivingforce of the motor 61 thereto. Stoppers 88 and 89 are provided in theselecting mechanism 67 for controlling rotational amount of the rewindplanet carrier 83 where the rewind control lever 82 cannot act on therewind planet carrier 83.

Rotation of the motor 61 can be selectably transmitted to any of thedriven members by operations of the selecting mechanisms 64, 67 asdescribed above. The take-up spool 35, the idler gear 76, and therelease charge cam 78 are the driven members in the selecting mechanism64, and the fork gear 25, the cartridge-related driving cam 86, and thefilm feed-out gear 87 are the driven members in the selecting mechanism67, each member carrying out its assigned operations when driven. Asmentioned above, these operations are driven by rotating the motor 61 inthe reverse direction. The reverse rotation of the motor is transmittedto each planet gear, i.e., the take-up planet gear 74, the releasecharge planet gear 75, or the rewind planet gear 85, supported by thethen stationary take-up planet carriers 72, 73 and the rewind planetcarrier 83, respectively. In the selecting mechanism 67, the position ofthe rewind control lever 82 is first controlled by the selectingmechanism 64 by the rotation of the motor in the normal direction inorder to define a desired selected condition in the selecting mechanism67. Then, the rewind planet gear carrier 83 is rotated with the rewindsun gear 84 in the initial rotation when the motor 61 is rotated in thereverse direction, until the rewind planet gear carrier 83 is stopped bythe rewind control lever 82 at the predetermined position, where therewind planet gear 85 transmits the rotation to a selected drivenmember. It is to be noted that all gears mentioned above are not limitedto toothed gears, and friction wheels may also be employed for selectingand driving operations. The present invention generally defines suchmembers as rotating members.

A microcomputer 101 shown in FIG. 16 or any other controlling means isused for these selecting and operation controls. This is preferably madeby a single microcomputer which also controls functions and operationsof the camera. The microcomputer 101 outputs signals to rotate orreverse motor 61 to perform necessary sequential operations in apredetermined order or at a predetermined timing according to variouskinds of inputs including a shutter release signal accompanying theoperation of the release button 10, a cartridge loaded signal detectedby a microswitch, a cartridge removed signal after finishingphotographing or after the film 9 is all exposed, or read-out signalsfrom the photo sensors 14a, 14b, as shown in FIG. 16.

Film winding operation is performed as follows. The take-up sun gear 65rotates clockwise by the reverse rotation of the motor 61, rotating thetake-up planet gear 74 counterclockwise. The take-up spool 35 engagingthe opposing take-up planet gear 74 is thus driven to rotate clockwise,thereby taking up the film 9. Other planet gears are idling in themeantime.

Release charge and vertical movements of the mirror are carried out asfollows. Take-up sun gear 65 rotates clockwise by the reversing motor61, rotating the release charge planet gear 75 counterclockwise. Therelease charge cam 78 is thus driven to rotate clockwise by the opposingrelease charge planet gear 75, while other planet gears are idling.

To perform cartridge-related operations, the rewind sun gear 84 isdriven to rotate counterclockwise through the idler gear 68 by thereversing motor 61. The rewind planet carrier 83 pivoting with therewind sun gear 84 is stopped by the rewind control lever 82 where therewind planet gear 85 comes to engage the cartridge-related cam 86. Thecartridge-related cam 86 is thus rotated counterclockwise by engagingthe rewind planet gear 85 driven to rotate clockwise by the rewind sungear 84. Other planet gears are meanwhile idling.

To rewind the film 9 into the film cartridge 5, the rewind sun gear 84is driven to rotate counterclockwise through the idler gear 68 by thereversing motor 61. The rewind planet carrier 83 pivoting with therewind sun gear 84 is stopped by the rewind control lever 82 where therewind planet gear 85 comes to engage the fork gear 25. While othergears are idling, the fork gear 25 is driven to rotate counterclockwiseby engaging the rewind planet gear 85 driven to rotate clockwise by therewind sun gear 84.

To feed out the film 9, the rewind sun gear 84 is driven to rotatecounterclockwise through the idler gear 68 by the reversing motor 61.The rewind planet carrier 83 pivoting with the rewind sun gear 84 isbrought to a halt by the stopper 89 where the rewind planet gear 85comes to engage the film feed-out gear 87. The rewind planet gear 85driven to rotate clockwise by the rewind sun gear 84 rotates theengaging film feed-out gear 87 counterclockwise. And the film feed-outgear 87 rotates the opposing fork gear 25 clockwise. At the same time,in the selecting mechanism 64 at the film take-up side, the take-upplanet gear 74 is engaged with the take-up spool 35. Clockwise rotationof the take-up sun gear 65 driven by the reversing motor 61 istransmitted to the take-up spool 35 through the take-up planet gear 74.The take-up spool 35 driven to rotate clockwise winds up the film 9being fed out thereto and performs film take-up operation each time theshutter is released.

Since the film 9 is reeled out and rewound only by switching therotation of the fork gear 25 in opposite directions, provision anddisposition of the gear train may be variously arranged other than theone shown in FIGS. 12 and 14, for example by inserting an odd number ofgears between the fork gear 25 and the film feed-out gear 87. The loadrequired to feed out the film is generally larger than that required torewind the film. Thus, a reduction system may be preferable formed bythese additional gears between the film feed-out gear 87 and the forkgear 25, so that the rewinding operation will not be undesirably delayedby the load needed for feeding out the film 9.

The drive system 27 may be variously constructed other than as describedabove. For example, the driven members should not necessarily berotating members such as a gear as described in this embodiment, andother members which can slide or swing may be applied instead ofrotating members. Also, various other conventional structures for thedrive transmission may be employed.

FIG. 14A shows a status of the selecting mechanism 67 in which theplanet control cam 77 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is being driven. FIG.14B shows a status of the selecting mechanism 67 when the film 9 istaken up, the shutter is released or charged, or the mirror is movedupward or downward by the selecting mechanism 64. FIG. 14C shows astatus of the selecting mechanism 67 in which the cartridge related cam86 is being driven. FIG. 14D shows a status of the selecting mechanism67 during the rewinding operation. FIG. 14E shows a status of theselecting mechanism 67 during the film feed out operation.

FIG. 15 shows the changes in each cam face radius of the upper and lowercams 77a and 77b of the planet control cam 77, and how each rotationalposition of the cams 77a and 77b is related to the corresponding cameraoperation of this embodiment.

The present invention employs a planetary mechanism for drivetransmission control. Preferred embodiments of the planetary mechanismof the present invention will be hereinafter described. FIG. 17 shows anenlarged view of the selecting mechanism 67 shown in FIGS. 12 and 14.The surrounding components are not shown, and the descriptions of partsoverlapping those in FIGS. 12 and 14 will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 17, the selecting mechanism 67 is a planetary mechanismin which the sun gear 84 meshes with the planet gear 85 revolving aroundthe sun gear 84 and supported by the planet carrier 83 coaxiallyprovided on the sun gear 84. A lever 102 supporting the planet gear 85is provided on the planet carrier 83 which is pivotally supported by ashaft 103 to swing in the radial direction with respect to the sun gear84. The planet gear 85 has its axis 85b supported through an oblongaperture 83a of the planet carrier 83. Further, the lever 102 isprovided with a spring 104 urging the planet gear 85 away from the sungear 84. This configuration allows the planet gear 85 to move away fromthe sun gear 84 urged by the spring 104, the swingable lever 102 on theplanet carrier 83 coaxially provided to the sun gear 84 ensuring astable movement of the planet gear 85. Thus, when both addenda of theplanet gear 85 and any of the driven gears block each other at abeginning stage of engagement, the planet gear 85 moves away from thesun gear 84 providing a play therebetween for the planet gear 85 toretract to easily escape from the stuck condition.

FIG. 18 shows a second embodiment of the planetary mechanism of thepresent invention. In a planetary mechanism shown in FIG. 18, a sun gear111 meshes with a planet gear 112 revolving around the sun gear 111 andselectably engages and drives any of four driven gears 113, 114, 115,116 at a predetermined position. A planet carrier 118 is coaxiallydisposed to the sun gear 111, a friction member 119 providedtherebetween The planet gear 112 is supported by its axis 112a on theplanet carrier 113. The friction member 119 will function likewise ifprovided between the planet carrier 118 and the planet gear 112.

When the motor (not shown) rotates in the normal direction, the sun gear111 rotates counterclockwise. The planet carrier 118 attempts to pivotwith the sun gear 111 in the same counterclockwise direction by thefunction of the friction member 119, but is stopped by a stopper 121 ata position shown in FIG. 18, where the planet gear 112 meshes with adriven gear 113. At this position, the rotation of the sun gear 111 inthe counterclockwise direction is transmitted to the driven gear 113through the rotation of the engaging planet gear 112. An indexingmechanism IND as a load connected to the driven gear 113 is therebyadvanced.

When it is desired to select and drive a load connected to the drivengear 114, the indexing mechanism IND is first advanced by the rotationof the motor in the normal direction to select the next pivotal positionof the planet carrier 118 to be the position of the stopper 122, and themotor is stopped. At this time, the stopper 122 for stopping the planetcarrier 118 at the selected position is entered within the orbit of theplanet carrier 118 by the indexing mechanism IND and waiting there.Then, when the motor is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, thesun gear 111 rotates clockwise and the planet carrier 118 pivotsclockwise by the friction function of the friction member 119 until theplanet carrier 118 contacts with the stopper 122 and is stopped. Theplanet gear 112 meshes with the driven gear 114 at this position androtates counterclockwise by the clockwise rotation of the sun gear 111,thus driving the driven gear 114 to rotate in the clockwise direction.The load connected to the driven gear 114 is thereby driven to performpredetermined operations.

Next, the operation of driving the driven gear 115 will be described.The motor is rotated in the normal direction to release the engagementbetween the planet gear 112 and the driven gear 114. The sun gear 111rotates counterclockwise to pivot the planet carrier 118counterclockwise by the frictional force until the carrier 118 contactswith the stopper 121 and is stopped, where the planet gear 112 meshesagain with the driven gear 113. The motor continues to rotate in thenormal direction to drive to rotate the driven gear 113 counterclockwiseand to further advance the indexing mechanism IND. The indexingmechanism IND releases the planet gear 112 from its former rotationalposition by advancing and selects the next rotational position to be theposition of the stopper 123. The stopper 122 is thereby retreated by theindexing mechanism IND to a position where it does not block therotation of the planet carrier 118, while the stopper 123 is enteredwithin the orbit of the planet carrier 118 and waits there. When themotor is reversely rotated in this state, the planet carrier 118 pivotsclockwise releasing the planet gear 112 from the driven gear 113 andpassing through the position of the driven gear 114 until the planetcarrier 118 contacts with the stopper 123 and is stopped, where theplanet gear 112 meshes with the driven gear 115 transmitting therotation of the sun gear 111 and rotating the driven gear 115 clockwise.The load system connected to the driven gear 115 is thus driven toperform predetermined operations.

Here, the planet gear 112 passes by the driven gear 114 during theclockwise pivot of the planet carrier 118. When the driving load of theload system connected to the driven gear 114 in its reverse direction issmall, the driven gear 114 is slightly rotated counterclockwise byengagement between the driven gear 14 and the planet gear 112. When thedriving load is large, the driven gear 114 stays stationary while theplanet gear 112 rotates counterclockwise when contacted with the drivengear 114 and continues revolving clockwise with the pivoting planetcarrier 118 by the function of the friction member 119.

When the drive of the load system connected to the driven gear 115completes and the next operation is desired to be executed, the motor isdriven to rotate in the normal direction which makes the sun gear 111rotate counterclockwise. The planet carrier 118 is released from thestopper 123, removing the planet gear 112 from the driven gear 115, andis pivoted counterclockwise until it is stopped by the stopper 121,passing the driven gear 114 on its way thereto. The planet gear 112meshes again with the driven gear 113, and by further rotating the sungear 111 counterclockwise, the indexing mechanism IND is advanced toselect the position of the stopper 124 corresponding to the nextrotational position. The planet gear 112 temporarily engages the drivengear 114 on its way to pivot counterclockwise and passes therethroughlikewise as described above except that the driven gear 114 is slightlyrotated clockwise when the driving load of the load system connected tothe driven gear 114 is small. When the next rotational position isselected, the stoppers 122 and 123 are retracted outside the orbit ofthe planet carrier 118. The motor is then reversed, rotating the sungear 111 and pivoting the planet carrier 118 both clockwise. The planetgear 112, after being released from the driven gear 113, passes by thedriven gears 114, 115 and goes on revolving until the planet carrier 118is blocked by the stopper 124. The planet gear 112 thereby meshes withthe driven gear 116, and the rotation of the motor in the reversedirection, i.e., the clockwise rotation of the sun gear 111 istransmitted to the driven gear 116 through the planet gear 112. The loadsystem connected to the driven gear 116 is then driven to performpredetermined operations. To disconnect the drive from the load systemconnected to the driven gear 116, the motor only needs to be rotated inthe normal direction.

The addenda of the planet gear 112 and a driven gear to catch each otherat the point where both gears come to engagement as shown in FIGS. 31Band 31C, especially where the driven gear is placed in line with the sungear 111 and the planet gear 112, causing a malfunction or damages tothe supporting shafts or the addenda of the gears. To prevent suchmalfunctions, a second embodiment of the planetary mechanism accordingto the present invention has the following improvements.

Referring now to FIG. 19, the planet gear 112 has its shaft 112bsupported in an ellipsoidal aperture 118a of the planet carrier 118 sothat the distance between both shafts the sun gear 111 and the planetgear 112 is changeable in order to prevent the teeth of the planet gear112 and the driven gears 113-116 from catching and blocking each other.To make the descriptions simpler, the driven gears 113, 115, and 116 arenot shown. When the tips of each one or two teeth 112a, 114a of theplanet gear 112 and the driven gear 114 catch each other at the timewhen the two gears begin to mesh with each other as shown by solid linesin FIG. 19, the planet gear 112 is blocked by the driven gear 114 andobstructed to further revolve around the sun gear 111. In an ordinarymechanism, the two gears under such condition often get stuck with eachother, unable to rotate further. The planet gear 112 according to thepresent invention is capable of changing its position with respect tothe sun gear 111 within the range in which both gears are not disengagedas shown in FIG. 20. The planet gear 112 can thus have enough space forretraction within this range using the play between the sun gear 111 andthe planet gear 112 to escape from the blocked condition as shown byphantom lines in FIG. 19. The planet gear 112 can thus continue torevolve and smoothly mesh with and drive the driven gear 114. When thereare provided more than 3 driven gears as in this embodiment, the planetgear 112 can readily pass by a driven gear on its revolving way, evenwhen the sun gear 111, the planet gear 112, and the driven gear come toengage with each other in one line. Accordingly, a simple improvement tomake the planet gear 112 movable solves the conventional malfunction inthe mechanism, increasing reliability.

As shown in FIGS. 19-21, the addenda 112a, 114a of the planet gear 112and the driven gear 114 are shifted gears having pointed tips while thesun gear 111 is made in the normal form. Shifted gears do not easilycatch each other and even when they do, they can be smoothly disengagedby slightly sliding each other. The stability of operation is thusenhanced thereby.

FIGS. 22A and 22B show the configuration of the second embodiment moreconcretely. A coil spring serving as the friction member 119 is actedbetween the sun gear 111 and the planet carrier 118. The planet gear 112is attached to the shaft 112b which is received by the ellipsoidalaperture 118a formed on the planet carrier 118. The planet gear 112 isfastened by a washer 221 so as not to drop from the planet carrier 118.A coil 222 is disposed between a projection 118b formed on the planetcarrier 118 and the washer 221 to urge the planet gear 112 away from thesun gear 111 along the oblong aperture 118b.

As described above, while the present invention employs the conventionalsimple support structure wherein the planet gear 112 is supported by theplanet carrier 118 which is coaxial with the sun gear 111, the presentinvention accomplishes the increase in operation stability by simplyadding improvements in which the coil 222 is acted to urge the planetgear 112 in the direction away from the sun gear 111.

Such a planetary mechanism as described in this embodiment wherein theplanet gear 112 selectably engages and drives one of the several drivengears 113-116 at a predetermined position along the orbit of the sungear 111 is suitable for any sequential operations required in otherdevices such as a video cassette recorder or a wiper driving mechanismin a vehicle. The video cassette recorder requires plural operationssuch as loading a cassette, drawing out or winding a tape around acylinder, winding and rewinding the tape, fast forwarding the tape, andejecting the cassette. The planetary mechanism of the present inventionis also suitable for executing these operations in a video cassetterecorder, as it contributes to the whole construction to be made morecompact and simple. Likewise, the planetary mechanism may be alsoemployed for carrying out various operations such as drawing out andaccommodating a wiper or driving the wiper at different speeds requiredin a wiper driving mechanism in a vehicle.

FIGS. 23 and 24 show a third embodiment of the planetary mechanismaccording to the present invention. As in the first embodiment, theplanetary mechanism of this embodiment comprises the planet gear 112supported by the planet carrier 118 which is coaxially mounted on thesun gear 111 and an appropriate number of driven gears provided along anorbit of the planet gear 112, each at a predetermined position to engagethe planet gear 112. The third embodiment differs from the firstembodiment in that it is provided with an adjuster 441 for adjusting theplanet gear 112 to a predetermined rotational phase by meshingtherewith.

The adjuster 441 may be a single or a plurality of pin(s) as shown inFIG. 23 or a part of a gear mechanism. The planet gear 112 canselectably mesh with any one of the driven gears or release theengagement. The planet gear 112 meshes with the adjuster 441 as shown bybroken lines in FIG. 23 at a position prior to its engagement with thepredetermined driven gear 114, and is adjusted to its predeterminedrotational phase. Thus, by setting the rotational phase of the planetgear 112 to a phase engaging with the driven gear 114 which isstationary at a certain position, the planet gear 112 meshes with thedriven gear 114 smoothly as shown by solid lines in FIG. 23 via theadjuster 441. Accordingly, malfunction of operation is obviated and thereliability of the mechanism is increased by a simple configurationwherein the adjuster 441 such as a pin is added.

More concretely, the adjuster 441 is movable along a slot 442 made on abase plate (not shown) away from the planet gear 112, as well as aspring 443 is provided to urge the adjuster 441 toward the planet gear112. Thus, even when the addenda 112a of the planet gear 112 and theadjuster 441 catch each other at the beginning of engagement, theadjuster 441 can retract from the planet gear 112 so that the planetgear 112 slips out of the stuck condition and smoothly meshes with thedriven gear 114. The operation stability is thus further increasedcomparing to the second embodiment.

The adjuster 441 such as a pin is provided in such a way that it keepsengaging with the planet gear 112 until after the planet gear 112 beginsto mesh with the driven gear 114 by its revolution. Therefore, therotational phase of the planet gear 112 once adjusted will not be out ofthe adjusted phase before it engages with the driven gear 114, therebyassuring stability of the operation.

FIGS. 25A and 25B show a still more concrete example or the thirdembodiment of the planetary mechanism according to the presentinvention. A coil spring as the friction member 119 is provided betweenthe planet gear 112 and the planet carrier 118. The adjuster 441 such asa pin is pivotally supported at its lower end by a shaft 444 to a plate445. The fore end of the pin 441 is movable away from the planet gear112 along the slot 442 by a swing motion around the shaft 444. Thespring 443 is acted inside the slot 442 to urge the pin 441 toward theplanet gear 112. FIG. 25A shows an adjusted condition wherein theadjuster 441 properly engages the planet gear 112 and thereby adjuststhe planet gear 112 to a predetermined rotational phase. FIG. 25B showsa blocked condition in which the addenda 112a of the planet gear 112 andthe adjuster 441 catch each other. The planet gear 112 can escape fromthe blocked condition by pushing the adjuster 441 away therefrom, and beadjusted by engaging again with the adjuster 441.

FIG. 26 shows a fourth embodiment of the planetary mechanism accordingto the present invention. The pin-like adjuster 441 consists of one endof a helical spring 551 having a helical portion 551a supported on theplate 445. The other end 551b of the helical spring 551 is fixed to theplate 445, thereby urging the other end, i.e., the pin-like adjuster 441toward the planet gear 112. The structure is simpler than the thirdembodiment as there is no need for providing an extra force exertingmember to urge the adjuster 441 toward the planet gear 112.

FIG. 27 shows a fifth embodiment of the planetary mechanism according tothe present invention, which is a combination of the second and thethird embodiment. The planet gear 112 engages the adjuster 441 beforestarting to mesh with the driven gear 114, and the rotational phase ofthe planet gear 112 is thereby adjusted to properly engage the drivengear 114. In case that the addenda 112a of the planet gear 112 areblocked by the adjuster 441, the planet gear 112 can move away therefromwith a swing motion by the lever 102 against the force of the spring104, escaping from the blocked condition. The adjuster 441 thus needsnot to be retractable and may be constructed as a fixed pin. Forsupporting the planet gear 112, the structure of the first embodimentmay be also employed.

FIG. 28 shows a sixth embodiment of the planetary mechanism according tothe present invention. The planet carrier 118 is pulled by a spring 602toward one direction, and the position of the planet carrier 118 ischanged by a planet control cam 601 against the force of the spring 602,thereby selecting a driven gear to mesh with. Although the adjuster 441of the third embodiment is employed, it may be replaced by that of thefourth embodiment, or the configuration of the first or the secondembodiment in which the planet gear 112 is movably supported. The planetcarrier control cam 601 has contact surfaces 601a, 601b with differentradii and changes the position of the planet carrier 118 by rotating andcontacting either surface thereof with the planet carrier 118.

FIG. 29 shows a seventh embodiment of the planetary mechanism accordingto the present invention. The planet gear 112 is selectably engaged witha driven gear by swinging a lever 603 supported around a shaft 603awhich is independently provided. Although the adjuster 441 of the thirdembodiment is employed, it may be replaced by that of the fourthembodiment, or the configuration of the first or the second embodimentin which the planet gear 112 is movably supported.

FIG. 30 shows an eighth embodiment of the planetary mechanism accordingto the present invention. The planet gear 112 is not supported by theplanet carrier in this embodiment, and instead pulled by a spring 605toward one direction. The shaft 112b of the planet gear 112 is guided bya slot 604 provided on a base plate (not shown). A planet gear controlcam 606 has several contact surfaces 606a, 606b to contact with theshaft 112b of the planet gear 112, and changes the position of theplanet gear 112 to selectably mesh with a driven gear. Although theadjuster 441 of the third embodiment is employed, it may be replaced bythat of the fourth embodiment, or the configuration of the first or thesecond embodiment in which the planet gear 112 is movably supported.

Although the present invention has been fully described by way ofexamples with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be notedthat various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilledin the art. Therefore, unless otherwise such changes and modificationsdepart from the scope of the present invention, they should be construedas being included therein.

We claim:
 1. A gear mechanism, comprising:a sun gear driven to rotate; aplanet gear rotating and revolving around the sun gear by rotation ofthe sun gear; a driven gear provided along an orbit of the planet gearand driven to rotate by the rotating planet gear when the planet gearstops at a position opposing to the driven gear where the planet gearengages the driven gear along the orbit of the planet gear; and asupporting member for supporting the planet gear such that the distancebetween axes of the planet gear and the sun gear can be changed.
 2. Agear mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a force exertingmember for moving the planet gear away from the sun gear.
 3. A gearmechanism according to claim 1, wherein the supporting member includes acarrier provided coaxially with the sun gear for supporting the planetgear.
 4. The gear mechanism of claim 1, further comprising an adjusterfor adjusting the planet gear to a predetermined rotational phase bymeshing with the planet gear.
 5. The gear mechanism of claim 4, whereinthe adjuster comprises at least one pin.
 6. The gear mechanism of claim5, wherein the adjuster comprises a part of a gear mechanism.
 7. Thegear mechanism of claim 5, wherein the adjuster engages with the planetgear until after the planet gear begins to mesh with the driven gear. 8.The gear mechanism of claim 5, further comprising a planet gear shaftand a control cam which contacts the planet gear shaft to change theposition of the planet gear to selectively mesh with the driven gear. 9.The gear mechanism of claim 1, wherein the planet gear is capable oftranslating in a linear direction.
 10. The gear mechanism of claim 9,wherein the linear direction is towards the sun gear.
 11. The gearmechanism of claim 1, where a space defined between the supportingmember and the planet gear enables the distance between the axes of theplanet gear and the sun gear to change.
 12. The gear mechanism of claim11, wherein the space is between an inner surface defined by an aperturethrough the supporting member, and a shaft of the planet gear extendingin said aperture.
 13. A gear mechanism, comprising:a sun gear driven torotate: a planet gear rotating and revolving around the sun gear byrotation of the sun gear; a driven gear provided along an orbit of theplanet gear and driven to rotate by the rotating planet gear when theplanet gear stops at a position opposing to the driven gear where theplanet gear engages the driven gear along the orbit of the planet gear;and an adjusting member provided upstream of the driven gear along theorbit of the planet gear for adjusting a rotational phase of the planetgear to a predetermined phase by meshing with the planet gear before theplanet gear engages the driven gear.
 14. A gear mechanism according toclaim 13, wherein the adjusting member includes a pin.
 15. A gearmechanism according to claim 14, wherein the pin is supported such thatthe pin can advance and retract with respect to the planet gear, and canbe pressed in a direction toward the planet gear.
 16. A gear mechanism,comprising:a sun gear driven to rotate; a planet gear rotating andrevolving around the sun gear by rotation of the sun gear; a driven gearprovided along an orbit of the planet gear and driven to rotate by therotating planet gear when the planet gear stops at a position opposingto the driven gear where the planet gear engages the driven gear alongthe orbit of the planet gear; and a supporting member having a singularunified body for supporting the planet gear that the distance betweenaxes of the planet gear and the sun gear can be changed.
 17. The gearmechanism of claim 16, wherein the singular unified body includes anellipsoidal aperture.
 18. The gear mechanism of claim 16, wherein theplanet gear is capable of translating in a linear direction.
 19. Thegear mechanism of claim 18, wherein the linear direction is towards thesun gear.
 20. The gear mechanism of claim 16, where a space definedbetween the supporting member and the planet gear enables the distancebetween the axes of the planet gear and the sun gear to change.
 21. Thegear mechanism of claim 20, wherein the space is between an innersurface defined by an aperture through the supporting member, and ashaft of the planet gear extending in said aperture.